The Motivation of Diplomatic Switch of Selected States Newly Recognizing China Within the China-Taiwan Rivalry

Abstract

The recent considerable loss of many of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies remains
unchanged. The authors of the article focus on the period between 2016
and 2018, when the People’s Republic of China (PRC) established its
diplomatic ties with Taiwan’s former allies such as Gambia, Burkina Faso,
the Dominican Republic, Panama, São Tomé and Príncipe and El Salvador.
The aim is to explore whether the diplomatic transition was the outcome of
dollar diplomacy alone, or if there were further motivations influencing the
recognition process. The diplomatic overturn was analysed within six case
studies with a specific focus on the non-economic motivations. In
conclusion, the authors found out that the examined cases are di!erent
from each other – in terms of not only the motivations themselves but also
the ‘levels’ of these motivations. In most of the cases, it was possible to
detect at least one significant non-economic motivation for the diplomatic
switch.